Posts Tagged ‘Dance Advantage’

We made it to Round 2 of Dance Advantage’s Top Blogs of 2011! Thanks to our readers who commented, En Pointe with Houston Ballet is now in the running for best Dance Organization/Dancer Blog.

So how can you help us win the top spot? Click on the Vote button below and be sure to select En Pointe with Houston Ballet in the best Dance Organization/Dancer category. Voting is open from Dec 27 – Jan 4. We can do this!

When Dance Advantage announced a contest to decide the Top Dance Blog of 2010, Houston Ballet’s En Pointe couldn’t resist throwing our hat into the ring. Everyone familiar with blogs has been exposed to the endless lists of “bests” in blogging. These lists are composed of the top 100… the top 50… the top 10… But how do they find themselves in those coveted spots? With no clear judging criteria or universal standards, the lists are subjective at best. In an unprecedented move, Dance Advantage has decided to name the Top Dance Blog of 2010 based on your support!

Here is how the contest works: if you find yourself constantly checking in to see what Houston Ballet and our amazing dancers are up to, just post a comment on this blog entry! It’s that easy to show your support. After December 22, Dance Advantage will vote on the twenty blogs that received the most comments.

Dancer Garrett Smith, a Houston Ballet II graduate and company apprentice for the 09-10 season, sits down with Dance Advantage to discuss why he started dancing, how he balanced school and dance classes, and why he chose to study at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy.

At 20 years old, Garrett Smith is a recent graduate of Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy and already an accomplished performer and choreographer. He has toured internationally to places like Budapest and Japan. In addition, Garrett has set four works on HB II, often doing double duty as dancer and dance-maker.

Even before being awarded a scholarship to the Academy in 2006, Garrett’s ambition and dedication won him numerous honors. Originally from Riverton, Utah, he has performed off-Broadway and in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Summer Olympics. Garrett is a national title winner of the New York City Dance Alliance competition, awarded in the Junior category at age 13 and selected as Teen Male Outstanding Dancer at 16. And, as an NFAA youngARTS winner, he was one of 20 students selected as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts in 2007. And those are just his dance achievements!

Clearly, on the fast-track to a bright future, Garrett took some time to talk with me about his early training as a young man in dance, his passion for choreography, and what lies ahead for him.

Dance Advantage: You began dancing at age 9 but you didn’t start with ballet. What prompted you to try dance in the first place and why did you decide later to give ballet a try?

Garrett Smith: Sports just weren’t doing it for me so I tried tap, jazz, and hip hop. I loved it. I was silly at age 9 wanting to be famous. I thought if you were a jazz dancer, it meant you were dancing on screen with the Utah Jazz [laughs]. I tried ballet because the studio I was attending was dying down and I switched to this great ballet school in Utah called Jacqueline’s School of Ballet. I changed so much there, as did my opinion of ballet. I guess I never knew what ballet really was until I was in a correct ballet academy.